No taper in cooling sales, despite slow start to summer

December has arrived but the mercury is yet to consistently deliver warm temperatures around the country. However, Appliance Retailer has spoken to portable cooling and air conditioning suppliers who have mostly reported good sell-in and sell-through.

Panasonic group manager for home appliances and air conditioning, Emile Redden said the company’s air conditioning business has grown market share year on year. Recent months have seen this trend continue for the brand, despite the market challenges of having a cooler lead up to summer. “We are looking forward to a successful summer season, and building on the strong sales performance of our ECONAVI reverse cycle deluxe inverter air conditioners. In a great recognition of consumer confidence in our brand, Canstar Blue’s 2016 Air Conditioning Customer Satisfaction Ratings saw Panasonic Australia lead the field with five out of five stars in all categories,” he said.

TECO national business development manager, Trevor Francis said the acceptance of their new Comfort series DC Inverter split systems since its launch in September has been well-received. “Sell in is always easy with new models but we have been particularly pleased with reordering since launch. All states, despite differences in weather, have generated huge sales.

“Even though the hot weather has not kicked in up until now in many states, TECO is looking forward to this and will be ready for when it does.” TECO is currently awaiting the arrival of its Pinnacle Series R32 3D DC Inverters which will start shipping to resellers in the coming weeks.

Portable cooling solutions are a major and important part of the Heller catalogue and when it gets hot, consumers will invariably reach for a quick and economical cooling fix, according to GAF Control national sales manager, Tim Kendall. “Despite challenging and mild weather conditions around the country thus far, sales of GAF’s range of Heller cooling products are up on last year season to date. This growth has been achieved through a combination of product mix, customer mix and new products. Heller offers a wide range of products to choose from and we support our customers and consumers with depth of stock in our Melbourne warehouse. “We have seen significant growth particularly in tower fans and high velocity fans. Evaporative coolers and misting fan sales are also on the increase, while desk, pedestal and wall fans are a mixed bag. A move into more up-spec “fashion” products is also providing impetus,” Kendall explained.

De’Longhi category manager, Jessica Hull said it has been an excellent pre-season sell-in with strong retail support. “By all reports, this summer will be hotter than the last few years. With temperatures set to soar leading up to Christmas, we anticipate sell through to be stronger than last year and will expect replenishment orders to follow,” she said.

Glen Dimplex product and marketing coordinator for seasonal, Stacey Pogorecki said, “Throughout Australia’s states and territories, the climate and seasons vary significantly. While we can normally rely on the tropical north area of Australia and Western Australia to be hot, the other states can be hit and miss in terms of hot weather. We notice a dramatic increase in sell-through when there are three days over 35 degrees Celsius. “Our initial sell-in support was strong. However, as we are still awaiting the arrival of summer in most states, it has contributed to a slower sell-through. We anticipate summer will start later, but last well into March and April, based on the last few cooling sales. Therefore, we remain optimistic that summer will arrive soon, and when it does, our customers will be ready with a range of Dimplex cooling solutions.”